


Moonrise

by chucksauce



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: M/M, Modern Magic, drabble?, entirely too much artistic license with that super-moon we had last night
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-02-01
Packaged: 2019-03-12 08:56:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13543974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chucksauce/pseuds/chucksauce
Summary: John Watson has waited a long time for a moon so big...





	Moonrise

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Callie4180](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Callie4180/gifts).



The day’s rain drizzled out, the remnants draining from the London skyline. It lazily followed the grooves of the city of itself down to the gutters, just to be swept away to the underworld. Winter’s purplish mist settled in, a cool vapor that hovered at knee level, rippling and swirling in the invisible currents of the air. 

In the back of a cab, John glanced at his phone: three minutes had passed since the last he’d checked. That was all. He frowned in his impatience with the speed of London traffic (useless, he knew). Instead he watched the mist as it clung to the hems of trouser legs, as it eddied in whorls between passing cars.

Lately people had remarked on how thick it had become, how at times it seemed sentient in that useless way people ascribed to things that vexed them. They weren’t wrong, though. John was old enough to properly remember. It  _ was _ getting thicker, more active, and had been for ages. If tonight went well, he’d be fixing that. If it didn’t, well, the mist would be the least of everyone’s problems.

“You ready for that big moon tonight?”

The cab driver’s voice startled John from his thoughts. John glanced to the rearview mirror, to the small fragment he could see of the man’s face, his left eye and not much else. The question was small-talk, John knew, and nothing more. Still, it unnerved him.

“Got a big party planned for it,” John joked. “Well, if traffic lets up. Hate to be late.”

“What was it the newscasters call it? They made a big deal about it. A bunch of nonsense.”

“They had some wild name for it, yeah,” John agreed. Quietly he pulled up the notes function of his phone, opened it to the  _ sketch _ section, and traced two little runes: one for quiet, one for speed. He had no energy to give this man, and no time to waste.

The Super Blue Blood Moon would be rising properly, soon, though few people nowadays cared about that sort of thing. It was relegated to the realm of trivia, of astrophysical oddity so meaningless that aside from the odd joke or two on the news, no one knew nor cared about its approach. John knew, however. He cared. He’d been waiting on it.

* * *

The rooftop of number 221 Baker Street was slick and freezing. John rubbed his hands together, cupping them to catch the heat of his breath. As soon as he pulled them apart to begin adjusting his instruments, though, he regretted the action: the January air stole the humid warmth, slicing it away with icy precision. Still, the arcane equipment wouldn’t calibrate itself, and time was quickly running out. He closed his eyes as he concentrated on his task, blotting out the anxiety that hummed in his bones, threatened to make his hands shake as he carefully measured out the last of the elixir Sherlock had made during the last such full moon. He swallowed down his fear, his excitement. One hundred and fifty-two years.

Before the purple mist.

Before Moriarty’s disappearance.

Before Sherlock’s disappearance.

_ Only a few more minutes ‘til apex _ , John thought.

He slid the shallow dish of elixir into the centre of the altar, its pale golden glow growing with exposure to the moonlight. It was the same gold that had reflected sometimes in Sherlock’s eyes, the last time John had seen them.

John’s heart hurt at the reminder. He’d missed those eyes for more than a century and a half now. That was the trouble, he figured, of falling head over heels for a sorcerer. For being cursed beyond death by another.

_ Call me again when the night is sanguine, a blue moon at perigee. _

That’s what Sherlock had told him. John had held onto those words for so,  _ so _ long now.

“I’m calling you now, you berk,” John murmured aloud. “You’d better come. I’ve got so much to show you.”

**Author's Note:**

> **Hey friendos!**
> 
>   * This is a gift of sorts for [Callie4180](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Callie4180), who is a fucking phenomenal friend. Listen, y'all. 9001% Recommend, okay.
>   * HUGEMONGOUS thank-you to [221BJen](http://archiveofourown.org/users/jcoz1701/pseuds/221BJen) for the lightning-fast beta last night. You are a peach!
>   * The bare-bones-est idea of this came, obviously, from the big triple-threat moon thing we had last night. [A Super Blue Blood Moon](http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42817785)... Doesn't that sound like a ridiculous mouthful? I mean, a lunar eclipse happening the same time as the second full moon in a single calendar month, that _also_ happens to be at perigee in its trip around the earth... yeah, pretty dope. BUT THE NAME IS JUST TOO MUCH. Anyway, I took a lot of artistic license with when it would be seen and where, so if you're into science, this may not be the thing for you, hahaha.
>   * I'm very pleased to say: Consider this a teaser for my upcoming piece for the FandomTrumpsHate auction! The very same amazing Callie4180 made the winning bid, and the prompt worked so well that I realized this was a perfect little tie-in. I promise: there will be more coming, just you wait... 
> 

> 
> And as always, I really enjoy making friends with strangers on the internet. Come by and say hi!
> 
>   * [**My Fandom Tumblr**](http://chucksauce.tumblr.com) for all manner of crying about fictional characters and laughing at shitposts
>   * **[My Fic Rec Blog](http://spoilersauce.tumblr.com)** , if you're into multifandom recs.
>   * **[My Twitter](http://twitter.com/chucksauce221)** , where I basically live when I'm not writing...
> 



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